The Domino Effect
by lurkerofthedepths
Summary: Jacqui wonders how in the hell it is Cassie keeps ending up in her bed. College AU. Finished.
1. Chapter 1

Jacqui Briggs had felt conflicted before. It happens to everyone. What doesn't happen to everyone is waking up, naked, next to your straight best friend when there had been no alcohol or drugs involved. For the fifth time. That week.

Jacqui groaned, for the first time in her life wishing she had a hangover so she'd have an excuse for how absolutely shitty she felt. Next to her, Cassie Cage, the aforementioned best friend and apparent lover, stirred in her sleep.

"Goddammit." Jacqui cursed in a tone she thought was quiet.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one with the dirty mouth here?" Cassie, voice still groggy with sleep, said. "What the hell is bothering you at six in the morning anyway?"

Jacqui glanced down, at Cassie, and remember why it was so easy to fall into bed with her over and over. A. She was pretty attractive, but mostly B. They'd been friends for a long time, together through thick and thin. It also didn't help that Cassie had somehow ended up wearing Jacqui's t-shirt at some point in the night.

"Just school things, you know?"

Cassie yawned, loudly. "You're worried about school things? Poor Uncle Jax."

"Hey, not all of us can bribe their professors with autographs from Johnny Cage, alright?"

"Low blow, Briggs. Low blow."

"Whatever." Jacqui shrugged. "Give me my t-shirt."

"You're going to wear this outside?"

"No, I'm going to put it on and then put on a hoodie. Shirt." she said, holding out her hand.

"Fine." Cassie obliged, sliding out of said shirt. "You're supposed to let me keep something of yours. It's in the fuck buddy manual."

Jacqui tried not to notice the words "fuck buddy". "Is it? I would imagine you wouldn't want anything that belonged to someone you porked."

"We're not exactly typical "buddies" though." Cassie added.

"Fair enough." Jacqui said, standing. "You planning to lay in my bed all day?"

"Not all day. Just until my afternoon classes start. That a problem?"

"Not really. If Jin swings by, he wants my Calculus notes. They're on the dresser."

"What, am I your maid?" 

"You're literally in my bed half naked right now. Let's not have this argument." Jacqui said.

"Try not to bomb that English Lit test!" Cassie called out as Jacqui left.

Jacqui's classes didn't start until eight, but the school library opened at seven. There was no pressing need for her to study-she was doing relatively well in all her classes, despite what she had told Cassie. In reality, she didn't want to deal with the fact that she slept with her best friend so frequently that it had become a "normal" thing between the two of them, so she lost herself in an Engineering textbook for an hour.

Which proved to be a bad choice, as her first class was English Literature, and she couldn't remember anything, except that she had a test, because Cassie told her, and there she was, thinking about Cassandra goddamn Cage for the fourth time. It was impossible to forget, especially when she went to the bathroom with her hood off, and then discovered a hickey. That was just like Cassie, reminding people about her presence even when she wasn't there. Oh, and Takeda Takahashi, one of her dad's friends kids and also a friend of hers, just had to have this class with her.

"Jacqui." He greeted her after the test was collected.

"Takeda." she nodded.

"Are you concerned about the grade you may have gotten? You look worried." Takeda said, sounding worried himself.

"I'm fine." she reassured him. "Didn't study though."

"I figured. Important things come up?"

_Does banging your best friend count?_ she thought.

"Yeah, you could say that." she agreed.

"Must have been a big deal. You always do well."

Jacqui fought back a blush. "Envious?"

"I am." Takeda grinned. It happened that Takeda had one of the most infectious smiles she'd ever seen, so naturally she smiled back.

"You want to grab coffee tomorrow morning? Maybe go over some notes together?" Takeda asked.

"I'm an early bird, Takeda."

"I'm an earlier one." he answered. "So how about it?"

"You find a place open early that sells good coffee and I'm game." Jacqui said, just as the professor announced the end of class.

Jacqui's next class was the one she was actually prepared for- Engineering. This was something she could handle, something that came easy. She didn't have to worry about Engineering finding out about Chemistry and telling Political Science. Chemistry didn't have to battle feelings for two people (both different genders) and feel dirty about it. Political science wasn't in a long-lasting affair- Jacqui's thoughts were cut short by a dry snapping sound- her pencil, now in two pieces.

"Does anyone have a pencil for Ms. Briggs?"

After classes, Jacqui was roped into some activity that involved running around the city and pasting flyers everywhere they could fit. These flyers said a variety of things, like "End the violence!" "The only place fighting gets you is dead!" and assorted phrases. After all of that, she was tired (not physically, more so mentally. She had at one point gone through combat training- her endurance was ridiculous.)

Really, she wanted nothing more than a hot shower and a good night's rest. These two things were stopped by two words. Cassie Cage.

Cassie was casually lounging in Jacqui's tub (she didn't live on campus, thank god. Sharing bathrooms would have been a nightmare.)

"You really don't have any shame, do you?" Jacqui asked upon finding Cassie in her tub.

"How many times have you seen me naked? It's a great honor. It hasn't been bestowed upon many people, you know." Cassie said.

"I want to take a shower." Jacqui stated.

"I'm not stopping you." was Cassie's response.

"I am going to take a shower. Then you are going home, and I am going to bed."

"Sure thing."

"I'm serious." Jacqui said. Cassie finally looked up, locking eyes with her.

"I got it."

And then, three hours later- "Briggs, will you stop being such a sheet hog?"

Goddammit.


	2. Chapter 2

Jacqui didn't even have the strength to complain when she woke up, feeling like crap, and not just because she'd slept with her best friend (again). She legitimately felt like she'd been hit by a bus, and didn't have enough energy to push Cassie, who'd fallen asleep on Jacqui's arm.

Luckily (or unluckily) Jacqui had set an alarm for earlier than usual because she was supposed to meet Takeda. It also happened that Cassie was a light sleeper, and at the first blare of the annoying tone, Cassie groaned loudly.

"Can you turn that off, please?"

"Can't." Jacqui croaked, her throat sore.

"Dammit, Briggs." Cassie muttered, reaching over the bed and grabbing Jacqui's phone. "Why must you get up so early?" She asked as she shut off the alarm.

"I'm sorry I'm a morning person."

"What you're not right now is a healthy person. What's up with your voice?" Cassie asked, voice lace with concern, as she placed a hand on Jacqui's forehead. "And you've got a fever."

Jacqui could have told her that, but was puzzled as to how she'd gotten sick in the first place. No one she was around had been sick recently, except for-

"Fucking Jin." Jacqui said.

"What?"

"Jin was sick a couple of days ago."

"Did he hug you or something? Because Jin's not exactly the affectionate type."

Jacqui laughed at the picture of Jin hugging anyone, and then regretted it as she began coughing.

"No, but the son of a bitch drank from one of the cups. This blows." Jacqui grumbled.

"It's not that bad. You get to stay home."

"Yeah, I guess. I have to call Takeda though."

"Takeda? Why?"

"We were supposed to go over notes together. Guess we can't now."

"You could still. You'd give him the plague or whatever the fuck it is you have, but you'd probably get a good grade."

"You are aware you're probably going to get sick too, right?"

"Whatever you say, Jacqui." Cassie said, stretching as she got out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I won't be gone for long. Don't freak out."

As much as Jacqui wanted to argue, she didn't. Cassie was not a morning person by the loosest definition of the phrase, and wherever she was going couldn't be far.

Despite the fact that Jacqui felt like absolute and utter garbage (thanks, immune system) she fell asleep rather quickly.

Sleep was a welcome rescue from whatever virus felt the need to punish her this terribly, which was why she was annoyed when she was awoken by a knock at her door.

"Motherfucker." She cursed, as she climbed out of bed. "Who is it?" She asked, with her voice as loud as it go could without wreaking havoc on her throat (which was not fun).

"Your favorite study buddy!" a familiar voice rang out- Takeda's.

Jacqui cracked the door open with just enough space to poke her head through.

"Hey, Takeda." 

"Wow." He said. "You don't look so good." 

"These are definitely things people want to hear." Jacqui said sarcastically, before sneezing.

"No, I didn't mean- Cassie told me you were sick and I decided to bring tea for you, to make up for the coffee I promised you." He said, holding out a Styrofoam cup.

It was then Jacqui took notice of several things, all at once. Takeda remembered their study session. Takeda wasn't angry she forgot to call him. In fact, he brought her tea (that was warming her hands currently) once he heard that she was sick from Cassie.

Wait, why had Takeda run into Cassie? 

"Thanks for the tea, Takeda, I really appreciate it. But did you say you ran into Cassie?"

"Yeah. I figured it was a big deal since Cassie was up and running at seven in the morning. Speaking of the time, I really gotta go. Feel better!" He called out as he jogged away.

"This all has to be a fever dream." Jacqui said to herself as she walked back into her apartment, closing the door behind her. "I'm actually asleep right now, and I'm not sick, and I'm not sleeping with my best friend."

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't. As Jacqui sat on her couch, feeling slightly better as she sipped at her tea, she heard a key in the door. As it stood currently, only two people aside from herself had keys, and those people were her parents, something they'd insisted on when she moved out.

Which meant someone was confused, or Cassie had taken her keys before she left. It turned out to be the latter.

Cassie, a bag in one hand and Jacqui's keys in the other gave her a confused look.

"When'd you get tea?"

"I didn't. It's here, courtesy of Takeda himself. He said he ran into you."

"He did." Cassie put the bag down on the table. "He was already heading over here. He asked where you were, I told him you were sick, and he said, "Oh, will she be missing class today, and I said, "More than likely," he said thanks, and that was it."

"Are you going to tell me where you went now?"

"I went up to the school to get your work from your teachers, and I got you some soup." Cassie answered, holding up a can.

"How nice." Jacqui said, and despite her best intentions, it came out sounding mean.

"What? Are you too good for some knockoff brand, Briggs?"

"I deserve only the finest." Jacqui answered.

"You do, but we're talking in terms of soup, not life." Cassie responded. 

The thing that got Jacqui was the absolute seriousness in Cassie's voice. Jacqui herself had been joking with the "I deserve the finest", but Cassie had agreed.

Did this have anything to do with them sleeping together and why they weren't in a relationship? After the first time they'd woken up next to each other, Cassie had just not talked about it for a week, and after Jacqui came to confront her about it, they agreed to not let it affect their friendship. That was the most likely explanation, but then again, on that same occasion they'd also agreed that it'd never happen again.

This whole thing was making her head hurt, and she groaned as she laid down on the couch.

"Do you have aspirin, by chance?" Jacqui asked.

"I do." Cassie answered cheerfully. "But you shouldn't take any on an empty stomach. Do you want chicken noodle or minestrone?"


	3. Chapter 3

Jacqui was confused. And disoriented. But her sickness had nothing to do with it. Her confusion could be attributed to the fact that her best friend/whatever (she wasn't sure anymore, and had all but given up on choosing a label) was sitting at the end of the couch Jacqui herself was laying down on.

Sure, best friends kept each other company when they were sick.

Best friends put on crappy movies that made you laugh.

Best friends didn't cuddle up behind you and press kisses on your neck and your hair until you giggled and playfully swatted at them.

Yet Cassie did all of these things. This realization, coupled with whatever Jin had given her, made her want to puke.

It was then and there Jacqui made a decision, which was that she'd stop thinking about it. If she woke up tomorrow and was nestled in Cassie's arms, who gave a fuck? She wasn't going to let their "arrangement" consume every moment of her life. A label would have gotten rid of some of the confusion in Jacqui's brain, but it might have also made things more difficult.

There was just so much that would have changed if they became a couple. Cassie would drag her to fancy dinners she was required to go to, Jacqui would have to seek her parents' approval, they'd probably move in together, "I love you" s would have to be exchanged, it would all be so time-consuming- except most of these things had happened already, minus the last one.

They'd both been very careful about those special three words. That being said, Jacqui wasn't entirely sure what is was she felt.

Was she interested in Cassie? Yes.

Did she appreciate her as a friend? Definitely.

Did she "love" her? Not "Romeo and Juliet" esque love, but "put up with your bullshit because I like you and want you to be mine love?" She wasn't sure.

But did Cassie have any of those feelings toward her as well? Of course, she had been the one to propose not talking about sleeping together any time it happened, but this was the same person who used the phrase "fuck buddy manual" and who tried not to look annoyed when Jacqui brought up anyone who could potentially be an actual "partner". (Spoiler alert: It didn't work.)

"You okay?" Cassie asked.

"Just thinking. And dying because of this cold or whatever." Jacqui said.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Is this the part where you want me to say "Oh, I was just thinking about you"? Because it's not going to happen, Cage."

"You wound me, Jacqui. Why am I not in your thoughts?" Cassie asked, her tone joking.

Jacqui turned on her side to face her. "I like being sane, that's why."

''You're a real piece of work." Cassie responded.

"Why am I not in your thoughts?" Jacqui retorted.

"Who said you weren't?" Cassie answered, still grinning.

At this, Jacqui felt her face flush and had to turn away before Cassie saw.

"Don't have a response to that one, do you?" Even with her face turned away, Jacqui could still hear the smirk in Cassie's voice.

"I'm honored," Jacqui started, but ended up having a coughing fit.

"Relax yourself, Briggs. We don't need you dying just to get the last word. I'd get you cough syrup, but you've got meds in you already. Sleep."

"Don't you have afternoon classes?"

"Missing a day won't kill me." Cassie said. "But this cold you have just might."

"Oh, shut up."

"I'm being serious, Briggs." Cassie said, her voice soft as she began playing with Jacqui's hair. "You need to rest."

Jacqui didn't protest, finally succumbing to sleep.

….

She really needed to stop waking up unsure. Why was she in her bedroom? She clearly remembered falling asleep on her couch, and while Cassie was strong, Jacqui was sure she'd have woken up if Cassie tried to carry her. Nevertheless, Jacqui was still in her room, neatly tucked under the sheets.

The possibility of this entire thing being a fever dream was seeming more and more likely as her sickness progressed.

Fuck, what time was it? What_ day _was it?

Thankfully, a glance at her clock indicated it was still the same day, around three.

How did that work? She'd gotten up at six, complained about being sick, slept, been woken up, watched a crappy movie, fallen asleep again, and it was only three in the afternoon?

This day felt eternally long and exhausting, and the recurring, perpetual confusion was just plain annoying at this point. And nauseating. Wait, that wasn't-

Somehow, some way, she made it to the toilet before vomiting out the contents of her stomach.

"The next time I see Jin will be the last time anyone sees him." Jacqui said to herself, groaning at the unrest in her stomach.

"You alright in there, Briggs?"

Maybe confusion and nausea were appropriate feelings, because why was Jin in her apartment?

"Jin?" She called out uncertainly.

"The one and only."He responded. "Do I need to call a doctor?"

"Why are you here?" she asked, before washing out her mouth. 

"Out of the goodness in my heart."

Jacqui said nothing.

"Cage threatened me and said it was my fault you're sick."Jin admitted.

"Cassie threatened you?"

"Yes, she did. It was scary."

"She can definitely be that way when she wants to."

"You'd know."

"Excuse me?"Jacqui asked, stepping out of the bathroom and into the living room to see Jin lounging on her couch, eyes glued to the TV.

"Come off it, Briggs. I know you two are very "familiar" with each other at this point." Jin said, not even bothering to look at her as he changed channels with the remote.

"I don't know what-" 

"Cass told me. Though I don't think she meant to. There was alcohol involved, and I was the only sober person there that she knew. Me, being the gentleman that I am-" Jacqui audibly scoffed-"took her home. Or I tried to, at least, but that girl is a fighter when she's drunk. She gave me a black eye, and then started crying, and proceeded to tell me everything."

"Everything?"

"Everything. I did not have you pegged as a sub, Briggs, but if you're into that-"

"Nope. We are not having this conversation. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever." Jacqui said, covering her ears.

"Alright, calm down before you pass out, Jacqui. I really don't need to be on Cassie's bad side. Let's watch a movie. How about-" Jin flipped through the channels- "_Ninja Mime_?"

"I think I'd rather die."


	4. Chapter 4

The lack of sickness now attributed to Jacqui was absolutely incredible, two days later. It was such a luxury now to be able to breath properly, to have a conversation and not almost pass out coughing in the middle of it, but most of all, it was relieving to not have Kung goddamn Jin in her apartment.

And it was Saturday. Next thing she knew, it was going to be Christmas.

Really, she wanted to sleep, but a day of walking around in pajamas and generally not doing anything stress worthy at all seemed like the best possible plan as of then.

So she set up her Netflix, made some popcorn, and prepared for an hour and a half of blissful nothing.

She made it to a record forty-five minutes before her phone buzzed. A text from Takeda Takahashi himself, which read, simply:

_Heard you were feeling better. Up to studying?_

Jacqui stared at her phone, unsure of how to reply. Yes, she was feeling better (significantly), and she probably needed to study to make up the days she'd missed (though, admittedly, she'd done most of the work Cassie had gotten for her yesterday), and she actually enjoyed being around Takeda- an honor few people had. Still, _Billy Fredrick's Day Off _seemed really appealing, infinitely more than English Lit.

And then it was as though Takeda read her mind.

_If today's your you day, I get it. I might just watch some TV myself._

_Way ahead of you. _Jacqui responded.

_Movies are more important than me?_ Takeda sent, and Jacqui could hear the grin,

_Brody Matthews is more important than anyone else, okay? Don't take it personally._

_Isn't he like sixty?_

_Not in this movie he isn't._

_Didn't Cassie's dad do a movie with him?_

_He was supposed to. _

_What happened?_

_Ninja Mime happened. _Jacqui replied, grimacing at the memory.

_I've still never seen it._

_Really? That movie is terrible. I don't want to sit through it again, but I will if you watch it._

_I have to go talk to the old man now, but I will hold you to that, Briggs. See you later._

_Tell him I said hi._

_Will do._

Jacqui felt herself grinning as she resumed the movie, the handsome visage of Brody Matthews having nothing to do with it. It was odd, really how- what was the word? Content. It was odd how content she felt at that moment, like everything had fallen into place. The nagging reminders that so often interrupted her thoughts were just not there.

Then, another text, this one from Cassie.

_Just a heads up, we're going to a party tonight._

_Formal?_

_Nope. Some junior is having a party._

_Do you know them?_

_Vaguely. But hey, free beer, right? I'll pick you up later._

_See you then._

Cassie liked going to parties. Jacqui? Not so much. That being said, the last party she'd gone to with Cassie had ended...weirdly, to say.

….

It had been loud. Maybe it was because she'd grown up on a farm, but Jacqui did not like excessive noise. It was bad enough her college was in the city, but this noise was much more concentrated.

They were in some senior's basement. This particular senior was graduating early, and decided throwing a party was the best way to celebrate. Said party was full of beer, snacks and sweaty college kids that Jacqui did not know. She'd make the mistake of going after Cassie, even though pretty much everyone was wasted once she got there, so they let her in anyway.

Jacqui waited near the food table, when some tipsy guy with sunglasses and no shirt had bumped into her.

"My bad. You know, the beer on the table is warm. There's a keg in the back." The guy said, pointing.

So she headed over there, to witness Cassie playing beer pong and Jin off to the side. Jacqui had never been more happy in her life that Jin didn't drink, because there was no way she was going to navigate this party on her own.

"Briggs." he nodded over his cup of water.

"How drunk is she?"

"Eh. She's had a beer or two. She can still stand though, which is more than I can say for that Rain guy over there. And she's kicking ass at beer pong." Jin said.

Jacqui and Jin stood there, watching the drunk people get progressively drunker (perks of being the sober one, she supposed) and rowdier.

"Hey, Jin." she had to raise her voice because of the noise even though Jin was right next to her. "Why do you come to parties if you don't drink?"

"Free entertainment." he said. "Watching drunk people is better than any TV show."

"Fair enough." Jacqui said, as Cassie's pong shot went wide, nearly hitting someone.

"Alright. Time to go." Jacqui declared. "Jin, you drove here, right?"

"Yes, I did. Need me to get the car?"

"It would be very much appreciated." Jacqui said.

"I'll be outside!" Jin called before disappearing upstairs.

"Cassie, come on." Jacqui said, not believing herself that the simple approach would work. It didn't.

"Aw, come on, Jacqui. I'm winning!" Cassie said, putting about twice as many letters in winning then there needed to be. To prove her point, Cassie spread out her arms to be met with drunken cheers. "See? I've got fans." she said, before she nearly toppled over.

Jacqui caught her, deciding that she was going to have to carry Cassie to the car.

"Well, tell your fans bye, Cassie. We need to go."

"Bye, Cassie." A mumbling Cassandra Cage said, waving.

Jacqui managed to get Cassie in Jin's car without incident. Once in the car, it was a different story. Cassie slapped at Jacqui's hands when Jacqui tried to fasten her seat belt.

"Cage, so help me God..." Jacqui started. "Stay still."

"So I assume I'm dropping both of you at your apartment?" Jin asked from the driver's seat.

"That'd be great."

Jin ended up helping her carry Cassie into Jacqui's apartment since after Cassie laid down in the backseat, she couldn't get back up.

"Easy now." Jacqui cautioned as they put Cassie on the couch.

"Sadly, this isn't the first time I've done this, I know what to do." Jin said.

"I'm sure you do. Thanks for the ride."

"I'd say it was no problem but I'd be lying. See you, Briggs!" Jin yelled as he left.

Once Jin left, Jacqui sat at the foot of the couch, aware that she'd be up the whole night making sure Cassie was alright.

When Cassie woke up that morning, Jacqui made her breakfast to fight her hangover. And when Cassie proceeded to throw up, Jacqui held her hair and helped her brush her teeth.

"I really appreciate you as a friend, Jacqui." Cassie said over a cup of hot chocolate.

"I know-"

"No, like you being my best friend is honestly one of the greatest things to happen to me. You were there through my parents divorce, that god-awful scene phase I went through-"

"Are you really equating those two?" Jacqui asked.

"It was a pretty bad scene phase."

"Yeah, it was."

They both laughed, until Cassie complained about her throbbing headache, to which Jacqui's response was to put on cartoons (Cassie's favorite, and the one thing her dad had never been in) and bring her aspirin.

"You're the greatest friend ever." Cassie repeated as Jacqui brought her Advil.

"I know. It is still nice to keep hearing it." Jacqui said.

And so they lounged on the couch, until what Cassie would later explain as a "surge of overwhelming feelings" that led to Cassie kissing her.

She didn't leave her with enough air to ask what was happening or to protest. Hell, they didn't even make it to the bed that first time. But afterward, with Cassie playing with her hair and cuddled behind her, it was easy to forget to ask.

They did make it to the bedroom the second time.

**I really hope that it was obvious _Billy Fredrick's Day Off_ was a clear reference to _Ferris Bueller's Day Off_ and that Brody Matthews was Matthew Broderick otherwise I'm going to cry. **


	5. Chapter 5

In hindsight, Jacqui probably shouldn't have gone to the party. Not because she had exams later that week or because she didn't know anyone there, and not even because she and Cassie were going to be in a car through shitty city traffic together and Cassie had the worst road rage ever, but because Jacqui got absolutely wasted.

She had no plans for that to happen. She'd pulled on a t-shirt (nothing fancy, as per Cassie's advice, waited for the buzz from her phone, an announcement that Cassie was there, and sat in the beat-up Prius that her friend owned.

"You look nervous." Cassie, in a light sweater said, before popping a stick of gum in her mouth.

"Do I?" 

"Yeah, you're all fidgety. What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You worried about the party?"

Jacqui didn't respond, instead glancing out the window to see (you guessed it) traffic.

"Hey." Cassie started, her voice soft. "It'll be fine. I might not be able to drink if Jin doesn't make it-"

"What kind of blackmail do you have over him?"

"What?"

"Jin from freshman year would have died before doing you a favor. What'd you get on him?"

Cassie merely smirked. "Something to keep him in check for… eternity, really."

"So he'll be there?"

"He might. Maybe you won't have to babysit me this time."

"I'm not going to lie, that sounds amazing. Then again, I don't know anyone-"

"You meet people at parties, Jacqui." 

"_You_ meet people at parties. I don't."

From the look Cassie gave her, it was apparent to Jacqui that had the car been in motion, Cassie would have pulled to a stop.

"Briggs, you really have to stop that. Just try. It's not that hard, and no one there is going to bite your head off. Relax."

"How long until we get there?" Jacqui asked.

"Without traffic it's about half an hour, but with… maybe fifty?"

"Do we have enough gas?"

"My dad's last movie made 10 million in the U.S alone. Yes, there's enough gas." 

"Yet you drive this piece of junk."

"It's got character." Cassie defended.

"It's got rust stains and a radio that doesn't work."

"Character." Cassie repeated, stressing every syllable.

"Idiocy." Jacqui responded.

"Where's your car, Jacqui?"

"I don't have-"

"Oh, that's right." Cassie said, ignoring her. "You don't have a car. Quit bugging me about mine."

"That's dumb. If you weren't feeding your cat, would me saying "Hey, your cat's going to die, feed it" not be valid because I don't have a cat?"

"One is a living, breathing thing with soul. The other is a cat."

"Just drive please, Cage."

Traffic was a real nasty son of a bitch. Cassie's predictions were off by about ten minutes- they arrived about an hour after they left. The sidewalks surrounding the unknown junior's house were swimming with cars, and even when they parked a block away, Jacqui could feel the music.

"Well, shit." Cassie said, putting on her sunglasses even though it was starting to get dark. "We've got some partying to do."

Surprisingly, this party (apparently in the honor of some guy named Erron) was less cramped than the first one Jacqui had been to. Not that there were less people, it just seemed as though this house was more fit for throwing a large party.

But through the crowd and haze, Kung Jin stood by the punch table, idly watching already drunk party-goers.

"Jin, you ass!" Was Cassie's form of a greeting. "Are you still taking us home after this?"

"That was rude, but yes, since I got a ride and don't live far from either of you, I will drop you two home."  
Cassie took this as permission to empty the red plastic cup she'd snagged of a table into her mouth.

"Guess who's got two thumbs and is about to get hammered? This girl!" Cassie said, pointing at herself.

Cassie had planned on getting drunk (or hammered, or obliterated, or pass-out drunk, whichever), but Jacqui had plans to stay sober. It also played out the opposite way, and it started when an ice-cold beer was pressed into her hand.

"Is Mr. "Alcohol Kills" encouraging me to drink?" Jacqui asked, part of her in disbelief.

"I'm encouraging you to have fun. Every party I've seen you at, you always paddle after Cage. Now you don't have to. And one watered down beer isn't going to kill you. It's definitely not going to get you drunk. Now shoo. Go make a friend."

Jacqui didn't move, but did take a gup of her beer and immediately recoiled at the taste.

Jin laughed. "You don't usually drink beer for the taste. You drink to get drunk. Far as I know, anyway."

Jacqui grimaced at the thought of more than one cup. "I'll be back."

"Don't die."

Jacqui made her way through the crowd of people somewhat easily. What she wanted was a soda, but after stumbling to the kitchen, she was met with a group of four or so people at the counter, downing shots.

"Hey, you wanna do one?" Some guy, whose teeth were absolutely atrocious asked her.

"Sure."

"What's your poison?"

"What will get me drunk the fastest?"

The guy who needed a dentist laughed. "Straight to the point, huh? I like that. Here."

Something Jacqui wished Cassie would have told her? Tequila burned like hell. Honest to God hell. The second shot was worse. She sat down, waiting for the burn in her throat to subside, but stumbled when she tried to stand up.

"Easy there, sweetheart." Someone caught her.

"Sorry."

"Oh, trust me, it's fine. How about-" 

"Hands off, cowboy." A voice that was unmistakably Cassie's said.

"If I let go of her, she's going to fall. And these are hardwood floors, Cage."

"Then give her to me."

"Fine." Suddenly Jacqui felt herself being lifted (Cassie would later tell her that the guy carrying her, Erron was carrying her bridal style) "Take her."

"God damn it, Black."

"She's welcome to the guest bedroom if you think she's going to hurt herself. I assume you want to accompany her there-"

"Hell will freeze over before I allow you to carry my drunk best friend to a bedroom unoccupied." Cassie spat, the authority apparent.

"Then come on."

As Cassie later retold it, Jacqui passed out the minute she hit the bed. Then Jin told her the rest of the story, because Cassie fell asleep.

"I was looking everywhere for you guys. Being the responsible friend fucking blows." Jin told them when they were safely seated in his car. "You guys weren't-"

"I have some semblance of shame, Jin. No, we didn't." Cassie answered.

Jacqui remained silent, but was steadily getting more angry (as angry as she could, because her thoughts were muddled) as Jin drove, and by the time they arrived at her apartment (being carried by Jin) she was furious.

And Cassie received the brunt of it the minute Jin left.

"I'm really sorry I told Jin about what's happening between us." Cassie muttered, half to herself.

"I am too." Jacqui glared.

"Wow, kitty has claws. What's up with you?"

"Our "arrangement" is what's up with me."

"This is really not a good time-"

"There's no good time to talk about bumping uglies with your best friend, is there?"

"You're drunk. Now is possibly the worst time to talk about it."

"No." Jacqui said. "Fuck you, Cassie. You come to my house, you sleep with me constantly, then you smile in my face like nothing happened-"

"You fucking agreed when I said we shouldn't be in a relationship or talk about it!"

"I was confused. But you knew that. I don't know why it is you think we wouldn't work together, but as of now, I am done."

It was at this particular moment that everything clicked in Jacqui's foggy mind. She was in love with her best friend, despite the venom she was throwing Cassie's way, She was in love, and absolutely pissed at this realization. What kind of ass was Cupid, making her affections for her best friend be expressed in the worst way possible?

What kind of person was she, to take her anger on her friend? Of course, Cassie was the root cause of it- Cassie, with her goddamn smirk and way with words and her openness, ready to comfort Jacqui whenever she needed it, which was why it had been so _fucking easy _to fall into bed together when the excuse of alcohol permitted it.

"I never said we'd never work together! Everyone thought my parents were perfect for each other. But guess what, Jacqui? They weren't! They never were!"

Cassie took a deep breath before continuing, her voice less angry.

"Just because someone says something doesn't mean it's true. Even if we "dated" if we were "serious", we might break up. It happens. My parents were married, and look where they are now. I can't let that happen to us, Jacqui. You- you have to understand." Cassie finished, her voice cracking.

"Then why would you keep sleeping with me?"

"Because stopping would raise more questions that I really didn't want to answer. Look, Jacqui, it's late and you're drunk, I'm tired. Let's just call it a night. Please."

The tone of Cassie's voice made it easy to pretend that the entire conversation had never happened, and that they were just two best friends coming home from a party together.

If only it were that simple.

**Alright, there are a couple of things to talk about. Firstly, I planned out this entire fic, and it's looking to be about eight or nine chapters. That's not that many, which means (my second point)I need ideas because this will be done soon. If you have ideas for a fic, be it a one-shot or a full story, AU or not, let me know on my tumblr, which is thenewyorktaco. Hope you guys liked this chapter and have a great weekend. **


	6. Chapter 6

Everything hurt. Her head ached, her stomach hurt- pretty normal for a hangover. But she felt...empty. This weird, open feeling, like a literal ton had been lifted from her chest. Not bad, but not pleasant. Then there was this pounding in her head, and she found herself with her head in a toilet bowl for the second time that week.

"Well, it looks like the dead have risen." Cassie said, entering the bathroom.

Cassie looked awful. Not hungover awful, or sick awful, but she looked like she'd spent part of the night (at least) crying. Her hair was a mess.

"You're one to talk."

"Am I puking out my guts in a bathroom right now?" Cassie said.

"No."

"No, I'm not. I'm the friend who didn't drink too much last night and also the friend who's going to make you breakfast. Brush your teeth."

Cassie didn't talk. She bumbled around the kitchen, trying to find anything that would make it so they didn't have to talk. Which they didn't. Completely ignoring the person who was right next to you was a lot easier when that person didn't want to talk either. Of course, Cassie could have left- she didn't "live" with Jacqui, though there were jokes that she did. She might as well have, though. She had the vast majority of her thing stationed at Jacqui's and even a mug with her name on it all stationed here.

Cassie _technically _lived in a tiny apartment (like Jacqui's, but smaller) a few blocks away. But she was always here, had been since they started college. That being said, Jacqui supposed being an actor's daughter had it's benefits (like not worrying about rent for example.) Not talking gave Jacqui a lot of time to think, so mid-afternoon on that humid Sunday as they were both on opposite ends of the couch, she blurted out,

"Why don't you rent out your apartment?"

"What?"

"Your apartment. You don't live in it. Why not rent it out to someone?"

"I do go there occasionally, Briggs."

"Move your stuff here."

"Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine."

"That wasn't an offer that the Jacqui who didn't hate my guts would have made."

"Forget it."

"Whatever."

Jacqui scowled, despite knowing Cassie wouldn't see it, and unlocked her phone, planning to watch some happy cat videos to cheer her up. The first thing she saw were the messages she'd sent last night, specifically the ones from Takeda.

She glanced at Cassie, who had her eyes glued to her phone. Then, Jacqui composed a text.

_Do you want to study later?_

_Study? We've got Ninja Mime to watch, remember?_

_It has to be tomorrow, though. I'm a little under the weather._

_Didn't realize the forecast called for Jack Daniel's. Actually, how high is the brightness on your screen?_

_Hangover jokes? I thought you were better than that._

_Do you know how to relax properly, Jacqui? Because I do._

_You do?  
_

_I don't have the old man looming all over me. He flew to Japan, and we've got that break this week._

_I'd forgotten all about that.  
_

_Of course you did._

_We're not hanging out tomorrow if you're going to be mean to me._

_I suppose I should save it for the movie. I'll be over at noon tomorrow, if that's a good time._

_You don't want me at your pigsty?_

_I doubt Watchdog Cage would let you come here._

_Noon is fine._

_I didn't offend you, did I? I didn't mean to. If anything, it's a compliment to Cage- she could kick my ass without trying._

_She's not going to approve of the movie choice._

_**I** don't approve of the movie choice._

At this, Jacqui had to laugh, something that didn't go unnoticed by Cassie.

_Gotta go. See you at noon?  
_

_You know it._

"Who are you texting?" Cassie asked, in a tone that almost made Jacqui believe they weren't mad at each other and it was a friendly question.

"Takeda."

"I see. School stuff?" That same, innocent, bubble gum voice that would have fooled anybody else.

"Nope. He's coming over here, actually. Tomorrow." Jacqui didn't have to tell Cassie that. If Cassie had asked, her response could have been, "I don't have to tell you, you don't live here. But that didn't happen.

"For?"

"We're watching a movie. One of those "it's so bad it's good" films."

"Right." Cassie nodded. "You do watch those a lot." A stranger would have never been able to guess that "you do" was really "we do". Bad Movie Mondays had been their thing.

"Well, some things have to stay the same, you know?"

The rest of the day passed, with no incident (okay, they ordered Chinese food without speaking, which was really weird, and ate dinner in silence, which was weirder.) Cassie still slept over, just on the couch this time.

...

"I really need to change my alarm." Jacqui grumbled to herself, when she was woken up at 6, having never bothered to turn it off despite being on break. She stretched and then slid out of bed, groaning at how early it was.

"T minus six hours." She said, remembering her movie plans. She headed to the kitchen with the intention of making breakfast, and passed Cassie asleep on the couch, but she had fallen asleep at an awkward angle, with half her body dangling off the side. Jacqui paused in her path.

"Fuck you, Cage." she muttered to herself, as she fixed Cassie and pulled her covers over her.

As Jacqui poured herself a glass of orange juice, her mind wandered. When the flying fuck had things become so complicated? And why was she nervous, of all things, about Takeda coming over? He was a friend, an actual nice human being and the way they were going to spend time together wasn't necessarily romantic. Still, anxiety gnawed at her stomach, and it was noon before she blinked.

Takeda arrived with popcorn, soda, and a goddamn beret.

"Seriously, Takeda?" Jacqui asked, as she set up the movie in the living room.

"I like to immerse myself into movies."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"Is Cage here?"

"When is she not?"

"Fair enough. Shall we start the movie?"

It went better than expected. Takeda laughed exactly where Jacqui expected him to- like when the title character (Cassie's dad) jumped off the Eiffel Tower and survived even though he very clearly should have been dead, or when the infamous "mime fight" scene happened. Everything was perfect, and Jacqui knew it wouldn't last. And it didn't.

The second Takeda left, but not before saying "We should do this again!" Cassie came out of Jacqui's room, fuming. The look on her face made Jacqui want to duck behind the couch and brace for impact.

"You're doing this because you're mad." Cassie said.

"I'm doing this because I have a right to other "romantic encounters". Don't you remember? You made the rules." Jacqui shot back.

"Takeda doesn't deserve to be jerked around like this."

"Takeda doesn't or you don't?"

"You are really pushing my buttons, Briggs. You're going to get hurt, and I'm not going to be your safety blanket."

"Are you- Look, Cassie, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you are not my guardian, you are not my magical best friend that I can hug and everything is better."

"I'm moving my stuff out this weekend. It okay with you if I stay here until then? Because if not, I can leave." Cassie said, ignoring her.

"If I haven't complained before, why would I give a shit now?"

"Great. Thanks, roomie._"_ Every single one of Cassie's words dripped with sarcasm.

"Oh, and Jin is coming over later, just in case you think everyone I invite here is to spite you."

"Doesn't matter anyway, because I'm going for a run."

"Sure thing, _roomie."_

The minute Cassie left, Jacqui grabbed her phone, and asked Jin to come over.

_Trouble in paradise?_

_More like trouble in the shitty motel just outside of paradise._

_I'll be there in fifteen minutes._

He was there in ten. Jin wasn't exactly the hugging type, so Jacqui wasn't surprised when Jin didn't greet her with outstretched arms.

"Did you guys have a fight?"

"I think so." Jacqui explained everything, finishing with, "She was convinced I invited Takeda over just to get back at her or something."

"She's jealous. I don't think she's "girlfriend" jealous. I think she's "best friend" jealous. You guys were really close and it was fine, but now she's fucked that by fucking you."

"Real classy, Jin." Jacqui muttered, but he did have a point. "But what should I do?"

"I'm not exactly experienced in this field, Jacqui. Just go with your gut." Jin offered.

"It's not that easy."

"I know. You're stuck in some weird "friends with benefits" purgatory, my family's breathing down my neck about everything, there's a research paper due next week no one has started- it's overwhelming. Life is weird. But that doesn't mean it has to be bad, and it's up to you to decide who you do and don't want in your life." Jin patted her shoulder. "Good luck."

She was going to need it.


	7. Chapter 7

The term "break" was starting to become more literal for Jacqui.

Break-separate or cause to separate into pieces as a result of a blow, shock, or strain.

And that's how she felt. Jin had offered her some comfort, but she not enough. She needed to talk to someone, and while Jin was a friend, she didn't feel right placing the burden of his two friends' relationship (or lack thereof) on him.

She wanted to go home. Two of the only people she could talk to (without getting too specific, mind you) were her parents. Now that she thought about it, they were probably annoyed she hadn't called and said she was going to visit. It was part of the reason her dad didn't want her to stray too far from home- he was worried she wouldn't come back. Now, her college was about two hours from campus, driving (2 and a half from her apartment) but Jacqui didn't have a car. She wasn't going to ask Jin, and she sure as hell wasn't going to ask Cassie.

Hitchhiking seemed like a really good way to get murdered, so that was out. Which meant Jacqui was stuck with the dreaded option of taking a coach bus. She could have called her dad and told him to pick her up, but she wanted to surprise them.

She was online, looking for tickets when Cassie came back, looking suspiciously not sweaty for someone who'd gone for a run.

Jacqui didn't look up.

"What the hell are you doing?" Cassie asked, sliding into the space in the couch beside her.

"Looking for bus tickets."

"For?"

"I want to visit my parents, Cage. Is there a problem?"

"No. When are you going?"

"Tomorrow, hopefully. If I can find a- there's one. Yep, definitely tomorrow."

"What time?"

"Six in the morning. Which means I better start packing."

"Briggs-" She heard Cassie call, but she was already halfway to her room, and pretended not to hear her.

Jacqui also had no idea how long she was going to stay. Tomorrow was Tuesday, and leaving any earlier than Friday sort of defeated the purpose of going in the first place. However, as much as she loved her parents, she had things to do.

"Briggs." Cassie was at her door. "We have to talk."

"About?"

"You know what I'm talking about, Jacqui. Can we just-'

"What happened to not being my safety blanket?" Jacqui snapped.

"I- you want to be like that? Forget it. Have a nice trip."

Jacqui didn't particularly enjoy sending biting remarks Cassie's way, but she also didn't enjoy having her feelings toyed with.

She could guarantee whatever Cassie had been going to say would have sent her on an emotional roller coaster that she did not want to be on. In fact, she didn't want to be within a hundred feet of said roller coaster. Jacqui finished packing, glanced at the clock, and decided that since she did have to get up early, going to bed now wouldn't hurt.

...

Jacqui immediately regretted her decision to take a bus the second she took her seat, because seated next to her was a man who regarded her in a way that made her defensive in a matter of seconds.

"You come here often, love?" he asked, with an Australian accent.

"Can we not do this?"

"Alright, alright. If you change your mind, I'll be here." He winked.

Thankfully, Jacqui was able to fall asleep somewhat easily, so when she woke up, the bus was pulling into her hometown.

She felt nostalgic, even though she was only in her second year of college. It felt like a lifetime since she'd last been home.

"Leaving already, sweetheart?" the man next to her asked, one eye open.

Jacqui ignored him, grabbing her bag and exiting the bus. There was one problem, however, and it laid in the fact that Jacqui's family lived on a farm, so the cab she got in could only take her so far. She walked the remaining distance, cursing her dad's desire to be so far from everything right up until she got to the front door.

She rang the doorbell to be greeted by her dad crushing her in a bear hug the second the door opened.

"Hi, dad." she said, hugging him back.

"You didn't tell us you were coming!" her mom, right behind her dad, said.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." she said, grinning-it hadn't occurred to her just how happy she was to see her parents.

"Well, it most certainly is. Come in."

If the nostalgia she'd had at the bus stop was a one, this was a twenty. The house they lived in wasn't large, but the barn and garage were. She had memories of hiding in both as a child when she didn't want to do her chores, and her parents pretending they couldn't see her, saying "Oh well, I guess we'll have to get a new daughter!" which always made her come out. Though times had changed, she still wanted to crawl into a space in the barn and pretend her current situation didn't exist.

"How's school?" her mom asked, as they sat around the table, with Jacqui eating breakfast leftovers (it was only around nine o' clock, but her parents got up early).

"You know. Long, tiring, nauseating-"

"Can't be all bad."

"It's not." Jacqui agreed. "I get to be away from you guys-" her dad playfully swatted her arm, and she laughed although her dad still didn't realize how strong he actually was and her arm ached.

"Are you still bunking with Cassie?" her dad's question was innocent, especially when taken into consideration that Cassie's mother was his best friend and previous co-worker.

"Not exactly." she said, taking a long drink from her glass in hopes of escaping further inquiry about Cassie.

"Well." her mom said, getting up. "I hope you're ready to do some work."

"I'm on a break, mom." Jacqui protested.

"Not when you're Jax Briggs' daughter." her dad grinned.

She'd never tell her parents (because they worked her fingers to the bone anyway), but she was glad to work. Falling into the same patterns she had years ago was sort of therapeutic and kept her mind busy. She was exhausted by dinner, nodding off at the table to the point where her dad offered to carry her to bed.

She laughed at him when he tucked her in. "Dad, I'm not seven anymore." 

"Seven? You were still scared of the dark when you were twelve."

"Dad."

"I'm joking, I'm joking. Night, kiddo." he said, reaching down and ruffling her hair.

…

The next day wasn't as much work, which was good and bad. Good, because she had a lot to tell her parents, and bad, because her parents had a lot of questions. Especially the "You meet anyone special that I should know about?"

"Not exactly."

"Well-"

"Jax, leave her alone." her mom interrupted. "You wouldn't have wanted to talk about your personal life with your parents either."

"Fine. Whoever it is, they better not hurt you."

Jacqui took this as an opportunity to leave, mumbling some excuse about wanting to feed the horses. She did end up feeding them, but afterward, she sat in the barn, staring at the little rays of light filtering through the cracks in the wall.

What was she doing? What did she need to be doing? Apologizing? Should she just completely ignore her situation, pretend it didn't exist?

"Hey, universe, send me a sign, will you?" she said out loud.

Thunder rumbled, there was the crack of lightning and then- rain. Lots of it. Jacqui wanted to blame it on how humid and cloudy the day had been already.

"That's not a clear sign- oh forget it." she groaned, leaning back against the wall, feeling miserable.

"I don't think a barn is the best place to question your faith."

"Dad, why are you here?"

"I live here."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know." her dad said, sitting on the floor beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Life."

"You're going to have to be more specific, Jacqui."

"Me and Cassie had a fight." she admitted, praying her dad didn't ask too many questions.

"That's the Cage in her. Was it bad?"

"It was terrible."

"And I assume you haven't spoken since then?"

Jacqui shook her head.

"I have a proposal that I don't think you're gonna like. I'm going to invite Cassie and Sonya over for dinner tomorrow."

"Dad-"

"You have to face your problems, sweetheart. You and Cass have been friends for about as long as I can remember, and I'm old. Whatever you're fighting about isn't worth your friendship. Sometimes friends are all you got."

He didn't need to say it for Jacqui to know what he was talking about- his time in the Army, one incident in particular when he was abandoned and left for dead, but a friend (Sonya) stepped up and saved him.

"Without friends, I wouldn't be here right now. Neither would you. Remember that."

She definitely would.


	8. Chapter 8

Jacqui wondered when her dinner table had become a war zone.

Well, not literally.

In reality, the place wasn't as much a war zone as it was a minefield. One wrong step and she'd be a smear on the wall. So she avoided eye contact whenever possible, which wasn't impossible, because her dad and Aunt Sonya were good friends who hadn't seen each other in a while and kept talking to each other, with her mom chiming in.

Seated directly across from her, however, was the youngest Cage family member, who was doing the exact opposite and trying to get Jacqui to look at her.

Jacqui couldn't. She knew when she looked up, she was going to see the pining look plastered on Cassie's face, something she knew her father would read as sadness.

She thought that maybe her dad had also informed Cassie's mother of the suspected issues going on between their daughters, because once they'd finished laughing at some dumb joke her mother had told, she felt their eyes on her.

"You done eating, Jacqui?" her dad asked.

Stupid question. Jacqui hadn't touched her plate.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm done."

"Looks like Cassie is too. Why don't you show her around the stables? Things have changed since the last time she was here." 

Fuck. Sometimes, she really hated how quick-witted her dad was. At this moment, she hated her life. He sounded natural, as though he were unaware that there was any turmoil between Cassie and Jacqui, or that Cassie despised horses.

"I should do the dishes first-" Jacqui tried.

"I've got it. Go on."

Double fuck.

…

"Did you tell him?" Cassie demanded the minute they made it to the barn- Jacqui might have been upset at her, but she wasn't going to have a conversation with her surrounded by horses.

"I told him we were having a fight."

"Are we? Don't you have to talk to someone to be fighting with them?"

Jacqui sighed.

"We're going to talk now."

"Why now?"

"Because the second we walk back into that house, we have to act happy with the current state of our relationship or be happy with the current state of our relationship. I don't know about you, but I don't want to have to act in front of them. Especially considering you might have picked up your acting skills from your dad-"

Cassie playfully punched her in the shoulder. "Don't be an ass."

"Alright." Jacqui sat, and motioned to the ground next to her. "Sit."

"Did you mean what you said about being done?" Cassie asked the moment she sat.

"Straight to the point, huh?" Jacqui muttered. "Done with our "other situation" or with our friendship?"

"You tell me."

"I want to be friends with you, Cassie. But I don't know if we still can. Our past isn't exactly something you can forget about. And I'm scared it'll happen again."

"You're making it sound like you can't control yourself."

"The first time we…were together-"

"You can said "had sex, Briggs."

"The first time," Jacqui continued. "You said "Let's not make a big deal out of this." I was hurt, but I figured, hey, Cass is right, things will only be worse. The second time, it was "Let's not make a habit of this." But that's exactly what we did. I wouldn't go as far as to say I don't have any control, but we're not stable." 

"But you want to be friends."

"God damn it, Cage- I want to be more than friends with you. I want to be able to hold your hand when we walk together, I want to take you to cheesy movies, I want for us to be able to cuddle one day, kiss the next and for it all to be fine. And I don't know how that can happen. We can't be both." Jacqui got out, amazed she's had gotten through that without her voice cracking.

"Before-"

"I was upset."

"Jacqui." Cassie said, with the softest voice Jacqui had ever heard. "It can happen."

"I don't- you said we can't be together. Because if we break up, that's it. I understand-"

"We owe it to ourselves to try. I didn't sleep last night, because I kept thinking and thinking- we can try. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. You make me happy." Cassie said, lacing one of Jacqui's hands with her own. "And I don't think anything can change that."

"Not even the huge fight we just had?"

"Not even the huge fight we just had."

"So-"

"Jacqueline Briggs, would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend- that is, girlfriend as one word, not two."

"Aren't you supposed to use my full name?"

"I- no. Your middle name is my mom's name, so no."

"I mean, ignoring the fact that you have ignored all that is sacred in this ceremony-"

"I said girlfriend, not wife. Maybe later on the last one."

"Yes." Jacqui finished, trying her hardest not to blush.

Cassie proceeded to nuzzle into Jacqui's neck before kissing her.

"Cass, we're not having make-up sex in my parents' barn." Jacqui said.

"Why not?"

"Because either of my parents or your mom could walk in."

"Fine. Wait, are we going to tell them?" 

"Right now is probably not a good time, since they could connect the dots and won't leave us alone together."

"Fair enough. We could wait until I leave. Break the news to my mom at our house."

"That's a good idea. We should head back-" Cassie said, getting up.

"Wait- we've still got some time." Jacqui said, pulling her arm.

"Have I started corrupting you already?" 

The trip back to the house seemed a lot shorter. It might have had to do with Jacqui being free from this not knowing- or "fuck-buddy purgatory", as Jin would likely call it, but she felt as though the storm was finally over.

The minute the cab left (Jacqui had no idea how the driver had been convinced to drive all the way to her house) Jacqui turned to her parents.

"So uh, Cassie and I are dating." she got out, hoping her parents would hear her because there was no way she'd get the courage to say that again.

"Told you." her mom said to her dad.

"Dammit." her dad grumbled, fishing through his pockets.

"What's going on?"

"Your father just lost a bet."

"All jokes aside, Jacqui, your mother and I love you and this doesn't change that. But…"

"But what?"

"Does she have to be a Cage?"

"_Dad."_

**That's a wrap, everybody. I thank you all for your reviews and favorites, and following this story until it's end. Hope to see you guys soon (my brain is tired, but I will keep writing). **


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